Thank you for your concern and for praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian People
1. This is the third summer that we have conducted summer camps as the war rages on. Most of the camps have been conducted on church grounds during this time due to safety concerns. That has been the case with Sasha Petrenko’s camps for the children and youth from Goncharovsk and Smolyn. This area is subject to frequent attacks from Russian missiles, rockets, and drones even though the Ukrainian air defenses have been able to shoot most of these down before they hit their targets. This summer Sasha wanted to get these children and youth away from this area and take them all the way to safer Western Ukraine, where we have an actual campsite. They have just returned with a happy group of campers that included many refugee children. All were delighted to get away from the frequent air-raid sirens that have become routine in their home area. Praise God!
2. Two years ago, when Russian troops invaded Ukraine, the Nazarenko family at first took refuge in their basement. But as Russian soldiers committed atrocities in their town of Bucha, they became just one of the families that BIEM evacuated to Germany. At the time, we shared a video of the family on the road:
https://vimeo.com/showcase/9315861/video/687675622
Now, despite the war, Victor and Anna decided to move the family back to Ukraine, where Victor has been ordained for ministry and the whole family serves the Lord... Meet the family and hear a little about their experiences here:
https://vimeo.com/user37287229/home
3. As we mentioned last week, the Buykos from Ukraine are currently with us. They have been busy visiting supporting churches, giving updates about the ministry, and sharing how God is blessing our war relief efforts, which they are heavily involved in. The daughters—Angelica, Solomia, and Ivanka—sing beautifully, which has been a huge blessing in our meetings. In fact, the singing is so exceptional that many have commented on that being the highlight of the meetings!
4. On Monday, August 5, we receive a 40-foot, high cube container that we will be loading with donated goods for Ukraine. Praise God, we have enough goods to fill this container and funds to ship it. We would also like to purchase this container so that it could be used as a storage facility for the receiving church. Such a storage place would be a huge blessing to any Ukrainian church since you could not build anything of similar size for anywhere near the $3,200 it would cost to purchase the container. Donations towards this $3,200 would be sincerely appreciated.
In Christ,
Sam Slobodian
President, BIEM